Netsuke Sells for $26,450 at Skinner

Boston, MA - Skinner’s autumn auction of Asian works of art on October 28 surpassed all expectations, grossing nearly $411,500 and selling 88% of the lots. Leading the broad selection of sculpture, porcelains, carvings, netsuke, prints and paintings was an 18^th century ivory netsuke of a wild boar sleeping on a bed of forest vegetation that sold for an impressive $26,450 to a telephone bidder.

Other highlights represented the variety of offerings in the auction. A late 17^th/early 18^th century Dutch watch made for the Japanese market signed "Madelaine a Middlebour" sold for $12,650. The group of Imperial ceramics offered a K’ang Hsi month cup that sold for $11,500, and a Tou Tsai dragon jar and cover from the Ch’ien Lung period (1736-1795) that fetched $7,475. A Ming period vase, c. 16^th century, sold for $8,625, a large pair of early 20^th century covered jars for $6,325, a Lang Yao bowl for $5,462.50, and a 12-inch K’ang Hsi Famille Verte garlic mouth vase for $5,175. Satsuma offerings included two late 19^th century globular form vases that sold for $4,887.50 and $3,450 respectively, and a bowl decorated with jewels, brocade patterns and Ho o birds that realized $2,645.

A Korean ten-panel folding screen, c. 1900, also fared well, garnering $5,462.50, and an 18^th/19^th century Tosa school six-panel folding screen fetched $5,175. Further evidence of the breadth of the sale, an 18^th century Sino-Tibetan gilt bronze Buddha sold for $5,462.50, a four-piece Meiji period silver tea service for $4,312.50, a 15-inch Japanese sword from the Meiji period (1868-1911) for $3,105, and a Cloisonné vase, c. 1900, signed Hayashi Hachizaemon, for $3,105. An 18^th/19^th century Tibetan Tangkha reached $2,875, and a large pair of 19^th century Chinese ivory carvings went for $2,760. Textiles included a 19^th century Chinese court vest that sold for $2,300 and a late 19^th/early 20^th century Chinese embroidered sleeveless gown that realized $2,070.

Skinner’s next auction of Asian Works of Art will be held in Boston on June 23, 2001. For more information, call James Callahan at 978.779.6241, or fax 978.779.5144.

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